A different comprehension
by blue-bunnycat
Summary: Izuku had always known he was different. He was three when he realized that other people couldn't see what he could see. So he grew up walking the edge of two worlds. The human world and the world of fantastical creatures, where anything and everything is possible.
1. Chapter 1

_' Italics '_ (distorted) = The Speech = Language that monsters, mythical creatures/beings use. Also what Izuku uses to cast magic/spells,etc)

" Normal " = Human speech

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

Izuku had always known he was different. The youngest memory he had of that visceral difference was during his first trip to the park cradled gently in his Mama's arms. Izuku grinned up at the beautiful figures of the trees and they grinned back at him.

The tall willow tree in the middle of the park noticed him when he puttered towards her and gave her trunk a big hug. She introduced herself as Orphile and when she laughed, her hair flowed and whipped in the wind like waves. She was the tree...and at the same time, she was not.

Orphile smiled and gave his head a gentle pat when he asked her what she was. In a voice like the fresh blossom of spring, she said that she was very old and she existed here since the beginning of life. Izuku's brow furrowed in confusion. Then, something landed on his hair, and when Izuku reached up, his fingers met the soft petals of a pretty pink flower. He smiled up at his new friend and thanked her for the gift before he clumsily stumbled over his own feet.

Izuku sat there and talked with the limited vocabulary his three-year old mind was capable of. Somehow, Orphile seemed to understand all the things he could not say.

His Mama wandered over a while later and asked him who he was talking to. Izuku introduced her to Orphile but when Mama gave him a blank look, followed by a hasty smile that looked too tight to be real, Izuku understood.

Izuku understood that no one could see what he could see.

He saw and also understood that Orphile and the nice tree-ladies didn't have any friends to talk to, so he turned around and pressed a tight hug into his new friend's legs and promised to come visit regularly. Promised that she didn't have to be lonely anymore. Orphile chuckled and gave him a soft, warm hug that felt just like one of his Mama's hugs. Izuku sunk into it and waved goodbye before he was picked up and carried home.

* * *

Izuku was five when he met his first human friend. He was five when the sounds of a fight reached his ears and lured him from his sanctuary under the bridge. On the edge of the ledge leading down to the river, there was a boy with spiky blond hair and red eyes as fierce as molten lava up against a group of larger boys who looked slightly older than the Boy With Fire In His Soul.

The sight dragged something that burned and screeched from within him, and before he was even aware of it, he was marching up the grassy slope. In a blink of an eye, Izuku was standing in front of The Boy With Fire In His Soul with arms spread wide like an eagle and shaking bravado running through his limbs.

Although the older boys were tougher and their hits were more painful than anything he had experienced before, Izuku stood his ground. He kicked and scratched and used all the techniques Orphile and the nice, quiet Darkness-Claw-Creature-that-lived-under-beds taught him until they gave up and ran away.

In the silence of the aftermath, Izuku turned around and gave his new friend a manic, wild grin. That was the first time Izuku discovered that humans weren't always cruel. That day he found out that one other human could accept a strange, bumbling boy with too much wild knowledge and ancient eyes that were tinged with inhuman wisdom.

That was the first time Izuku spoke to someone human other than his Mama and it felt like freedom. It felt like the world suddenly opened at his feet. The cold wariness that wrapped around his heart loosened and everything looked just a little brighter.

* * *

Izuku was six when he realized that the two worlds didn't mix.

Izuku was six when he realized that no matter what he said, adults would nod with those twisted-funny-fake-smiles and other children would sneer and snicker at him behind his back. He was six when he realized that words were as painful as physical wounds. The words _creep-freak liar liarliarliarfake liar-_ trailed behind him like a blanket of doom and, some days it felt like he was carrying the weight of a two-tonne truck on his back. Even with Kacchan's staunch friendship and prickly protectiveness, Izuku was still frequently attacked by bullies who carried their fragile egos on their shoulders like medals of valor.

Izuku was six and in the same class as Kacchan when he found out why the Other-side didn't mix with the human world. Izuku was in class when –for the first time- he met a being that decided to live in society disguised as a human. Instead of a round, smooth human face that greeted the class, Izuku saw a large two-meter tall creature with an anorexic, nearly-skeletal frame when his teacher stepped in the door.

On top of its head, there was a bush of flowers that flowed in the air like hair, and instead of possessing normal eyes there was nothing but obsidian, shimmery pools of darkness. Izuku checked to see if Kacchan saw the flowers that showered the ground until the whole floor was engulfed in invisible purple petals, but as usual, nobody noticed anything out of the ordinary.

Izuku made sure that all his classmates and Kacchan were asleep during the class' afternoon nap before he snuck out of his blanket. Izuku tiptoed towards Ms. Kanama and lightly tugged on her sleeve. She turned around and he leaned towards her and whispered: ' _Your eyes look like the sea at night and I think your flowers are so pretty!'_

Izuku saw the dark-obsidian pools of her eyes widen before a wide, lopsided smile stretched across her skeletal face from ear to ear. Her voice was like the ocean waves crashing against the sand as she thanked him and told him that her name was Kanama-fanvela-lin and that she was a night-walker. After that, she asked him if he was scared of her. Izuku giggled and declared that she was silly for having that thought because all he saw was the swirling ocean in her eyes and the glint of desert-flowers on her skin. All he saw was the beauty of the night coalesced into a form with a soothing aura that made Izuku think of stars and churning nebulas.

The smile that Ms. Kanama gave him was tinged with amusement, but her overwhelming relief washed over him and stole his breath away. No matter how far humanity had come in accepting people with DNA mutations called Quirks, the ability to truly accept and understand beings and creatures that were as old as the Earth itself was still impossible.

The Other-side had different rules, and humans were still too young a species to understand how the world truly worked, so these beings hid. Blending in and living several human lifetimes -always protecting and watching over humanity- but never really part of it.

These beings were folklore. Tales of the supernatural used to scare naughty children.

They were the unexplained sightings. A trick of the eye to some. Invisible friends and guardian angels to others.

But, although they're rare, there are also some beings who have decided to live in the human world as humans with 'a quirk'.

That was the first time Izuku understood why there was a divide. Why his classmates treated him like he was made _wrong_. It was because they were scared of everything new and _alien_. Scared of anything unknown and unseen, and outside of the _'_ norm' _._

And Izuku, with his tiny little six-year-old heart, vowed that he would use his gift to heal. To help.

* * *

Izuku was seven when he first felt paralyzing terror.

The attack came out of nowhere. One minute Izuku and Kacchan were walking down the stone-paved, beaten path back from school, and the next minute there was an electrician's van barreling down the street. Before Izuku could react, the van's door slammed open and two pairs of arms reached out of the darkness and grabbed them. They landed on the floor of the van with a heavy thunk that Izuku could feel all the way down his spine.

The shock paralyzed him. Izuku could do nothing but curl his palms over his head when the hulking, towering man straddled him and pinned his arms down.

On the other hand, Kacchan was screaming and spitting from the top of his lungs. Izuku was insanely proud but he was also terrified for his friend. If Kacchan got hurt, he didn't know how he would react. Didn't know if the wild, coiling creature in his chest would stay docile.

Izuku struggled against the man's weight and froze completely when he heard Kacchan cry out in pain. He swung his head around in desperation and saw the attacker pressing a gun into Kacchan's cheeks.

"Stop screaming or your fucking friend's gonna get shot!" The man who held Kacchan down gestured towards his companion and the next thing Izuku felt was a chloroform-filled cloth pressing against his nose and mouth. He gasped and reached out desperately towards Kacchan. Hot, salty tear tracks raced down his cheeks. All Izuku could feel was the hands around his throat and the suffocating scratchiness of the cloth against his nose, muffling his terrified whimpers.

Just as the black spots exploding across his vision grew and his struggles weakened, there was a loud deafening bang that rocked the car. The man who held Kacchan down was suddenly flung violently out of the back of the car and on to the road. The force of the explosion blew out the back of the van and Izuku stared at the sight of his bleeding, burnt friend in awe.

The car skidded to an abrupt stop and the man who was strangling Izuku careened forward. His body hit the dashboard with a thump that left spider-web cracks in the glass. The driver immediately turned around, aimed a gun at them and fired off three rounds. The only thing that Izuku felt was utter dread as the bullets raced past him and headed towards Kacchan's vulnerable body.

 _**No-nonono- don't let it hurt Kacchan- Kacchan will die- nonononono-NO!** _

The creature that was trapped in his chest roared in agony and the next thing Izuku felt inside his mind was a pop. Something inside of him burst out.

The bullets hit a wall and stopped in mid-air an inch away from Kacchan's chest. The air in front of Kacchan swirled and in the middle of that vortex of pressure, a body started to materialize. The wispy, translucent form of a familiar friend appeared with the mercilessness of an avenging angel.

His friend, Nelu, reached a hand towards him and Izuku felt himself being lifted into the air. He frantically searched for Kacchan in the ensuing chaos and was relieved when he saw his feisty friend gently being picked up and hoisted towards him.

As soon as Kacchan was in his reach, Izuku dragged his friend over and desperately clung to his shoulders. Izuku muffled his sobs against Kacchan's throat and sunk his senses into his friend's familiar yet slightly burnt smell of cinder and tangy oranges until his hands stopped shaking and his stomach stopped heaving.

"Deku! Oi deku, I'm fine! I'm _ok,_ dummmy."

Kacchan's voice was hoarse from smoke and tainted with pain, but the tone was gruff and soothing and _so Kacchan_ that it brought forth another round of tears. Izuku sniffled and snuggled against his blond friend until the screams that tore through the air stopped and the trembles that shook his limbs died down.

He only perked up and turned around when he heard Kacchan snarl out a warning.

"Stay back! What the hell are you anyways-?!"

There was a tinkle of laughter in the air. The sigh and huff of the wind before Nelu answered.

 _"I_ a͖m̲̯̣̖ _Nelu_. _I̘_ z̪̠u̖̘ͅk̟̙̱u̪͔̲̼'s͓̲̹͇ fr̘͈͖i̜e _nd_ , y̻o̙̳̳͔̝̜u̮͈͔̬n͔g̠̦̖̜ͅ oṉ͓̥̻̘e͚̺͔ͅ . _"_

Izuku reached out towards Nelu and a curl of wind danced along in his skin in a familiar, warm greeting, however, Kacchan's soft yelp made Izuku whip around in panic. Izuku's hands hovered over Kacchan's head like an aimless, lost bird whilst Kacchan pressed his bright-red, burnt palms against his ears.

'What the fuck! God- What the hell was that!" Izuku stared up at Nelu in distress but instead of a reply, the air nymph pressed a finger towards his lips and then pointed to Kacchan's ears. Then, Nelu pressed two tendrils of air against Kacchan's ears and hands before the nymph spoke.

 _"The_ w̝̥o̥̖̳̩̟͈̗rd̙͖̳s͍̙̲̭͕ ̝͈͇̯oͅf̪̼̳̱ _the Other-side_ a̩̘̥̲̝͍̲re͙ n̙͈o̘̙̠ț̖ _suitable for human ears. I apologize_ fo̗̪̣̪̤̻̙r͉̳͓ my̼͎ _carelessness, child. Now,_ c̬̗͇̮̼͍ͅan y̻̳̫̦̫o̮̞͇͈̥u̟̖̞ h̻̪̲̦e̠̜͈̰̤ar ṃ͓e̼̲͇͔̤̹? _"_

There was a wealth of distrust and vivid suspicion in every line on Kacchan's body but he didn't try to blast Nelu away or violently scream at the air nymph, so Izuku took that as a win.

" _I_ a͖m̲̯̣̖ a _n air nymph. Nelu_ i̬̮̹̯̜s͖̭̳̤̹͉̫ m̗̼̣y̯͍̠̹̣ͅ n̬̖̪̤͍̭a̳̣ͅm̤̼e _. Nice_ t̞͈̟̠o̯̙̟̗͔͉ͅ _meet_ ỵ̫͇̳̜ọ̗͇̠̣u _, human_ c̬͍̖̘̞̦̝h̰i̖͎̫̘ld̙̮̙̬̣͖̮ _. Friend_ o̠f ̭̭̞͓̳̲̳t̪̬̬h̖̗̝͕̩e̙̖̳ _little Spark."_

From the corner of his eyes, Izuku saw Kacchan give him an inscrutable look but he paid it little attention. Instead, he wanted to know if his friends could help him heal Kacchan and was delighted when Nelu gave his green hair an affectionate ruffle and a nod.

 _"Of_ c̹̮̩o̦͍͔͍u̲r͍͇̮͔̲͕s̼͉̜e̙͖, _little Izuku. We_ a̩l̪̩̯l̘̞̠͍̦ _felt_ t͇̹̘̩̜̹̖he _blast of energy_ y̹͎o̜̖ͅu̙͈̣̘͎ _released_ _ _a_ nd came _as͍͕ _fast a_ s͍͕ w͍̩e͈̖͕̭͙ _could. Congratulations,_ y̹͎o̜̖ͅu͍̱̤͇̜̱r̞ _magic_ h̰͓̱as̪̹̻ _awakened."_

Another one of Nelu's tendrils of power enveloped Izuku's hand and guided it until his small palm was placed on the skin where Kacchan's heart is. The pulse thumping underneath his palm was mesmerizing and hypnotic, and he didn't notice that he was copying the warm, tingling sensation from Nelu until the skin under his hand pulsed with green-tinted light.

Kacchan grunted and when Izuku snapped his head up in distress, the look of unexpected wonder that stained Kacchan's face was so foreign…so strange that Izuku suddenly lost his focus. The light dulled and immediately died down.

Izuku gave his hand an irritated frown.

"Kacchan. I'm sorry...um- did-did it hurt?"

Kacchan shook his head, brought his hands up into the air and all the air in Izuku's lungs left in a whoosh when he saw the completely healed, unblemished skin of Kacchan's arms.

"No. It felt...warm." Kacchan's reply was filled with confusion and Izuku watched his friend struggle to find the words to describe his... _wow-_ his magic (he had magic now?!).

"That's great, Kacchan! You're not hurt anymore." The relief that flooded his body from tip to toe was staggering and he pitched forwards into Kacchan's arms. The only thing that anchored him was the feeling of Kacchan's smooth, pale skin under his palms.

"W̮͖̮͉el͓l͖͈͈͖̘͖ _done, li̫̹_ t͖̦t̠̤̜͈̯̗le̟̠̣̰̹ b̗̗̥̭ṷ̙͈̖͈͍̝ _n_ n̥y̞͍ _."_

Izuku squeezed his eyes shut when Nelu's presence wrapped around him and dried away his tears. With a wobbly smile and overwhelming gratitude running through his veins, he gave Nelu a croaky, barely-audible: " _T_ h̬̦a _n̝̻̰͓͎̯_ k _you, yo_ u̠͇͇͉ s _aved Kacc_ h̪a̗̱̼̤̬̭̹n."

"N̠̤̞o͔̫͇w͍̯ _rest, young o_ n͕̦̖̱̹e̱͖͓͓s _._ I͖̗̪̻͖ h̯̣̪̜̠e̗͇̰a̳̹̬̘͇͕̮r̟ _heroes_ a̩̱̻ṇ̮̘ͅd͓̰̲ p _olice_ c͕͇̲̦̹̰̙o͕͓ _m_ i̝̦̫͕͇͉ͅn̝̙g̫͖͈͙ _this w_ a̜̱̰y _."_

With that, Nelu enveloped Izuku in another toasty hug and dropped a tender kiss on his forehead before the air nymph vanished into a whirlpool of cool, autumn wind.

The quiet between them didn't last long before the police and heroes swooped in and they were carted off, on an ambulance, with orange blankets around their shoulders. The ambulance arrived at the hospital at breakneck speeds, and then they were, once again, sucked into a whirlpool of flurried activity.

The next thing Izuku was aware of were white walls and sterile sheets and Kacchan plastered against his side. Without warning, the door opened with a bang and two women steamrolled into the doctor's office with the power and force that only mothers were capable of.

"Izuku! Oh god, you're alright. You're alright." Izuku felt his Mama's shaky, panting breaths fan against his hair and peeked at Kacchan and Mrs. Bakugou from the corner of his eyes.

Izuku smiled, placed both palms on his Mama's wet cheeks and patted them gently. He fervently hoped that his Mama would stop feeling so scared and worried for him. He was ok. He had Kacchan. He had Nelu. He had Orphile and so many Other friends, but the words sat like a lump of coal in his diaphragm and he found it so hard to speak and say what he wanted without using The Speech. It was easier to depend on the words that shaped dimensions and rendered reality into putty. The only limitation of The Speech was as powerful as a person's imagination and as unstable and all-encompassing as the breadth and width of your wildest dreams. There was no limit in The Speech. Most of the time, Izuku found it so hard to use human words because it made everything feel smaller, duller and as limited as a gilded cage, but it was easier with Kacchan and his Mama. Although, day by day, it was slowly getting harder and harder to talk to anyone else except Kacchan, so -in desperation- he slid his friend a pleading look and hoped that Kacchan could talk to his Mama for him.

His blonde friend gave his mother a disgruntled hug and a long-suffering sigh before he turned around and gave Izuku a flat, unimpressed look. Izuku pouted and leaned sideways to grasp Kacchan's hand. The blonde boy huffed and rolled his eyes so hard that Izuku was afraid that Kacchan's eyeballs were in imminent danger of popping out.

"Auntie Midoriya, the dumbass said that he's fine so you shouldn't worry too much. He-"

Kacchan glanced back at him with a raised eyebrow and Izuku gave him an enthusiastic nod.

"He doesn't want to see you so sad and worried."

There was a choked gasp from his Mama and he grinned up at her with all the love he could manage.

"Thank you, Katsuki-chan. You have such a sweet boy, Mistuki-chan."

Izuku saw Mrs. Bakugou smirk down at Kacchan before she gave his golden locks a messy, affectionate ruffle.

"Well, this little spitfire here is a true marshmallow on the inside. Don't let all this grumpiness fool ya."

Izuku giggled at a spluttering, outraged Kacchan and held his hands up towards his Mama as soon as he felt the doctor's presence walking towards them. His Mama chuckled at the Bakugou family's antics and picked him up.

Izuku settled in his Mama's arms. With a sniffly sigh, he rested his head against his Mama's soft shoulders and allowed the scent of fresh grass and rolling rain to wash over him like Nelu's flitting wind-like cuddles. He settled in and watched as Kacchan struggled in Mrs. Bakugou's arms. Watched as the white upside-down spiders that clung to the ceiling tussled and chittered to one another. Izuku giggled and gave them a shy, little wave when two dog-sized spiders fell to the ground in front of the examination bed. Two pairs of eight red, beady eyes blinked at him in astonishment before each of them raised up a leg and mechanically waved at him.

Izuku was so engrossed with the sight of the upside-down spiders and their excited whispers that he didn't notice the doctor who entered the room until the doc ran a finger across the clasps of the bandage that encircled his sprained wrist.

Izuku jumped and nearly smacked his Mama with his forehead. He huffed and poked his Mama's cheek just to make sure that she was ok before he turned towards the doctor and inspected him. The doctor looked like he was in his mid-30s with circle glasses that made his eyes round as an owl's and long, flowing black locks that were tied haphazardly in a bun. Izuku glanced at the blue-ish grey tendrils that pulsated around the doctor and focused on the tiny glimmers of ghostly fins until his green eyes could pick out the minuscule, translucent-ghostly schools of fish that swam around the doctor.

"Well, it looks like Izuku-kun sustained minimal superficial injuries. On the other hand, Katsuki-kun is completely unscathed. That's a miracle because the force of Katsuki-kun's awakened quirk could have caused severe second-degree burns, maybe even third-degree burns."

Mrs. Bakugou sighed in relief and ruffled Kacchan's hair again at the news.

"Thank you, Doctor Hanse. Wait, Katsuki's quirk manifested?"

Doctor Hanse glanced at his clipboard before he gave Mrs. Bakugou a nod and a reassuring smile.

"Yes, Mrs. Bakugou. We ran some DNA tests and the Quirkologist that ran both of the boys' tests confirmed that your son's fire-based quirk has been activated. The test coupled with the fact that Katsuki-kun doesn't have an extra toe joint confirms that his quirk is powerful and very present."

Izuku shot Kacchan a blinding, elated grin. Kacchan scoffed at him but the red tint that dusted his friend's cheeks made Izuku's chest flutter, however that fluttering, pleasant feeling diminished when his Mama asked the doctor about his DNA test.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Midoriya but your son is quirkless. There's no indication of the Q-gene present in his DNA and the presence of an extra toe joint confirms the results. I'm so sorry, M'am."

When his Mama thanked the doctor, Izuku heard deep sorrow intermingled with disappointment and dashed-hopes, and his chest tightened in agony. So, the moment his Mama placed him on the ground, Izuku scrambled out the door.

He was never interested in quirks and how restrictive they seemed, but everyone else around him only cared about quirks. It made every social interaction feel like a chore and it made him feel like he was an _outsider_. A stranger regulated to the sidelines. A mismatched soul.

The thoughts swirled in his head like a jumbled mix of patch-worked negativity, so Izuku pushed his feet faster. Faster and faster until it felt like he had outrun the crushing feeling of not belonging here. Until he outran the disappointment and the people that wanted to force him into a 'normal' human mold.

He ran and ran. Ran until his feet grew tired. Ran until it twinged with the same ache that pervaded his chest. The trees that sat in the hospital's garden beckoned to him and Izuku ran straight for their shaded sanctuaries. He collapsed against the trunk of a large oak tree with autumn-orange-yellow leaves and a napping tree dryad at its core. Izuku sighed and curled a stiff, achy arm around his miserable, coiling stomach.

"Deku! Wha-What the hell?!" Izuku jumped, heart beating a million miles a minute, and only relaxed when he realized that it was Kacchan who had run after him.

There was a heavy groan from his blonde friend before Izuku felt a line of bodily warmth lean against him. Kacchan didn't say anything and Izuku was grateful for the silence. Grateful for the soul Song that permeated every crack and crevice of the Earth. He couldn't even remember a time when he couldn't hear it. It was his constant. His rock and anchor when things were scary or dark.

So Izuku sat there with Kacchan and listened to The Soul Song until his heart felt steady again. Until his palms stopped sweating and the air in his lungs started feeling light again. Then, Izuku licked his dry lips, cleared his throat, and waited for his voice box to remember how to shape the sounds of human language.

"Do-Do you hate me now, Kacchan?"

There was a heavy sigh and the sound of a palm against a face from the boy beside him.

"No, you idiot."

Kacchan's next words were serious and soft. It was like the skirting vulnerability of a dangerous predator.

"Maybe I might've hated you in another universe for not having a quirk. But in this world, I don't. I don't because I saw- fuck, I don't know what I saw today...but I understood. I understood that there were _things_ other than humans with quirks. There were things out there that I could learn from, so no. No, I don't fucking hate you, Deku."

Izuku hummed in content because he didn't need the world to accept him. He just needed _his_ important people.

"Mhm—Ok. Love you. Thank you, Kacchan." Izuku wrapped a hand around his friend's wrist and shuffled over until he laid his head on Kacchan's shoulders.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N:  
**_

 _Hi everyone. I know this might seem weird...and some of you might be like: "wtf...What's wrong with this plot? It changed?!"_

 _Yeah...I figured out that it wouldn't really work with the plot...so I re-wrote chapters I wrote already and scrapped the ones I posted. I'm so sorry! *blushes*_

 _(p.s I know...that some of your comments got deleted for the old 2nd and 3rd chapters, but don't worry I saved the email versions so I can re-read them.)_

 _Thank you everyone for all the support so far :)_

* * *

 **CHAPTER 2**

"Deku! Fuck your rotten luck! Who the hell gets stuck in the middle of a villain fight on their eighth birthday!"

The bus they were on shuddered and Kacchan threw Izuku another dirty look. It was as if the world, fate, and destiny coincidentally aligned once every blue moon to curse Izuku's every waking moment.

They were out celebrating his birthday in Musutafu's city center when their bus got caught in the middle of a fight between a villain and a hero. Izuku gave the empty air a heavy, exasperated sigh when he glanced out the window and saw a buff, flashy hero in navy blue spandex, big boots, and flaming orange hair.

It took him a moment but Izuku's eyebrows shot up when he recognized the familiar figure of pro-hero, Endeavour. A young villain with white hair in a large black hoodie stood behind a hulking, looming creature as they fought against Endeavour.

Izuku watched, transfixed, as Endeavour's fire engulfed the monster but, instinctively, he knew that regular flames weren't going to be enough to take the creature down. There was the aura of death on it. It was like looking at a jigsaw puzzle; a mess of quirks and human body parts tied together with a jagged strand of black magic.

As soon as Endeavour's flames dissipated, Izuku's magic surrounded the bus and the pedestrians in shaky pastel-green shields, just in time to stop an explosion of flames from injuring anybody close by; but his newly awakened magic was unsteady, and it didn't take long before his glimmering shields crashed.

Screams of terror ripped through the air when Endeavour took a hit that flung him against the side of a building a few kilometres away. The monster's roar shook the air, and when it dove towards Endeavour's form, a miniature earthquake shook the ground. A millisecond later, Izuku's magic sunk towards the asphalt and furled out until the trembles were muffled under a shimmery-green layer of magic. All around him, pedestrians scrambled to safety as his magic worked like a writhing, biological entity to protect them.

"Oi, Deku! You ok?!"

There was a gentle, protective arm around Izuku's shoulders and when he looked up Kacchan was crouched in front of him. He smiled, reached up and gripped the hem of Kacchan's shirt in reassurance when he spotted the lines of concern along the creases of his friend's eyes.

"I'm ok, Kacchan. But, I don't think Endeavour can win. We need to get everyone to safety before they get hurt."

Kacchan nodded and gave Izuku's hand a firm squeeze before asking: "How long can you keep it up, Deku?"

Izuku was about to answer when an explosion went off across the street and blew a hole in a shop. There was a gaggle of teenagers in front of the shop and his magic reacted in the nick of time without any conscious input. In the blink of an eye, Izuku's magic immediately shot forward and surrounded them. The shimmery bubble rippled dangerously when it intercepted an explosive blast of flames that incinerated and scorched the surroundings like it was paper.

"I don't know but I'll try for as long as possible. Can you help get people out of the danger zone, Kacchan?"

Izuku gave his friend a pleading look, and when Kacchan gave him a long-suffering sigh, he knew he had won the argument.

"Yeah, but don't you dare get hurt, dumbass!"

Before Kacchan left, Izuku's hand snapped out and he wrapped a shaky hand around Kacchan's wrist.

"Don't- Don't get hurt, Kacchan. I don't know what I'd do if– if something–"

The thought of Kacchan injured and in pain made his magic want to lash out and destroy. Made him want to burn the world to the ground because Kacchan was his to protect. His to treasure. Someone who was as important to him as oxygen. Someone who Izuku knew he couldn't live without.

Kacchan was his anchor. His equal. Kacchan was part of his family, and Izuku rarely forgave those who hurt them.

There was a drawn-out silence in between them, and Izuku jumped when a hand cupped his chin and tugged his face up. Kacchan's crimson eyes were intense, and there was a rugged, rough type of understanding in them that made Izuku's cheeks heat up in embarrassment.

Kacchan didn't mock Izuku or snort in derision at the green-haired boy's words, instead, his blond friend leaned forward, lifted up the omamori necklace that Izuku gave him after the incident that caused Kacchan's quirk to manifest, and smirked.

"You gave me this and I haven't taken it off since. The magic in here –your magic– has never failed to protect me. So don't you dare think that I'll be wiped out so easily, Deku."

Izuku's heart swelled and his magic wandered out of his fingers and landed on the green, black and orange omamori in response. A second later, Kacchan's omamori necklace glowed a soft green-tinted gold before it faded like fairy dust. Kacchan barely flinched at the display of magic. Izuku suspected it was because Kacchan had become so used to the feeling of his magic around him.

Izuku leaned forward, wrapped his arms around Kacchan's neck and inhaled his friend's fresh-oranges-and-sweet-cinder scent until the ball of anxiety in his chest dissolved. Kacchan's scent lingered in Izuku's mind with the imprint of a warm hug. Izuku didn't hesitate to use the nostalgic, bubbly feeling that Kacchan's scent evoked as an anchor for his magic.

A fond huff from Kacchan ruffled the wayward strands of hair on top of Izuku's head but, instead of pulling away, Kacchan tightened his arms around Izuku for a few seconds longer before his friend untangled himself.

From the corner of Izuku's eyes, he saw Kacchan walk towards the jammed door of the bus and place a hand on the metal section.

"Everybody fucking brace for impact!" Kacchan's shout sliced through the sobs of distress and frantic voices with the ruthless force of a guillotine. The bus immediately went silent. It was like all sound ceased to exist for the next few seconds.

Half a second later, the bus door flew open in an explosive shower of glass and a deafening boom that rattled the bus so hard, it nearly tipped over. The only thing that kept the bus upright was Izuku's instinctive reaction. Even though Izuku's magic reached out and righted the bus before Kacchan even activated his explosive quirk, the bus shuddered dangerously and all the windows shattered when a shockwave of sound steam-rolled through them.

Kacchan ignored the mangled metal and razor-sharp glass, and ducked out into the street. Within a few seconds, Kacchan had made it halfway across the road but the blonde suddenly stopped when he realized that no one was following him. Izuku couldn't help that chuckle that erupted from his lips when he witnessed tension build up in Kacchan's shoulders.

His friend whirled around, let out an inhuman scream of rage, bent down, and picked up a hefty slab of debris before hurling it at the bus. The piece of debris blew up a meter away from the shattered windows, and it caused another cacophony of shrieks that had the potential to shatter eardrums.

"MOVE IT! we're evacuating, people! NOW!"

There were terrified whimpers from the crowd, but it wasn't long before some rational adults started corralling everyone towards the makeshift exit. Children were carried and passed along, and elders were gently helped down the bus steps by more able-bodied teenagers and adults. Soon, there was a crowd of bus-goers on the street and Izuku nodded in satisfaction when he saw quirks being activated in self-defense.

They cautiously shuffled forward, and in the panic, nobody noticed that Izuku had snuck towards the rear end. Nobody noticed that Izuku had assigned himself as the protector of the group until the ground shook and split down the middle with the impact of Endeavour's fall.

A few meters away from the group, there was a crater the size of a small meteor where Endeavour's battered body landed. From the sidelines, Izuku noticed a black and red blob approach, but by the time he realized that it was the homunculus from before, the thing had already barreled into Endeavour.

Endeavour briefly tussled with the powerful, misshapen creature before his flames blasted it away. Izuku watched in horror as it rolled and landed in front of Kacchan. There was a terse, fleeting moment of eye-contact between the group and the homunculus before it roared and rushed towards them.

Kacchan pushed back the two elementary school children that were hiding behind him, and frantically flung his palms forward. Before the homunculus' claws had the chance to graze Kacchan's chest, it was blown back by the force of an intensely violent blast. Izuku propelled himself to the front and used the short moment of reprieve to erect a white, silvery-green shield that safely encompassed the group.

The homunculus came propelling back and it hit Izuku's shield with a savage screech. The only thing that kept him standing was Kacchan's steady palm against the dip of his spine.

The shield gave a loud crack after a series of unwavering and extremely potent strikes. Izuku had to bite his lips to stop himself from crying out loud, but it was so hard when exhaustion ate away at his limbs and his vision started to go fuzzy at the edges.

By the miracle of will, Izuku somehow managed to stubbornly dig down into his core and anchor his magic to the ground beneath his feet. The Earth beneath his feet stirred, and Izuku felt the Soul Song surge and crest like an ocean wave beneath his skin. Izuku closed his eyes, held his breath, and threw open the connection between them. At first, it was a trickle, but it slowly built and built until the torrent of the Earth's life force flooded into every pore and cell in his body.

Izuku bit his lip and contemplated if he had enough control to expand his magic even further, but the decision was taken out of his hands when the homunculus opened its mouth and a ball of light formed. Izuku's eyes widened.

"Kacchan! Incoming!"

He only had a millisecond to form another layer of magic around his shield before an ear-splitting, high-pitched screech cut through the air followed by a thin beam of light. The beam of light impacted against the shimmering shield with a thunderous boom. It was like a million gongs went off simultaneously in front of them.

Izuku's feet skidded against the ground and he lost his footing but, luckily, something soft cushioned his fall. Izuku immediately recognized the arms around him and he slumped into Kacchan's chest with a pained huff. Izuku only had enough energy to blearily push himself upright. His limbs were trembling so hard he could barely speak. In the end, Izuku succumbed to his body's demands and he allowed himself to sag back against Kacchan's chest whilst his magic worked furiously to maintain the flickering shield.

Izuku did not know how much longer the shield would last. The connection between him and the leylines beneath his feet were cut off so violently and abruptly that he felt like his insides were scraped raw. His magic was dangerously weak and, by this point, solely running on fumes.

It was excruciating, and Izuku couldn't help the way his nails dug into Kacchan's knees. There was another rattle and a crack spider-webbed across the flickering shield when the creature collided against it.

Izuku heard babies and children wailing from the crowd behind them. The distress of everyone around him was starting to affect his shields, and Izuku grunted in irritation when another spike of pain lanced through his temples.

In the back of Izuku's mind, his instincts and intuition were propelling klaxon-level warnings at him. They had never led him astray, so Izuku took another deep breath and dug deep into his own life force. Then, Izuku reached back, tugged Kacchan's palms forward and laced their fingers together. With the last ounce of his magic, Izuku latched onto Kacchan's life force and borrowed an atom's worth of energy for one last act.

Izuku had never used his magic offensively before. His magic was _never_ meant to hurt. Never meant to be used to kill, but Izuku flung every last shred of magic out with the intention _to_ _**annihilate**_.

His shield crashed and the sound of a million glass pieces hitting the floor resonated against the walls of the city like a death knell. A nano-second later, the silver specks of magical residue floated up, and made the air sparkle like a night sky full of stars before they turned pitch-black.

Black dust hovered in the air like a beautiful omen of death. Distantly, Izuku felt blood trickle down his nose when the black dust started swirling and pulsing in time with his heartbeat.

They elongated in a blink of an eye and the air was suddenly filled with glistening, black, one-meter-long spikes. The white-haired villain's eyes widened, and Izuku heard the young villain desperately call out to the creature.

But it was too late.

The black spikes shot forward and there was a violent, terrifying screech that made Izuku's stomach curdle before everything went _silent_.

When Izuku's sight cleared, he realized that he didn't go blind from magical exhaustion, he just couldn't see anything because the air was filled with droplets of blood.

The air was _dark red_ with **blood.**

Every droplet of blood hung in the air like a frozen, macabre painting. It was a horrific, hellish sight. The creature was splayed out on its back with hundreds upon hundreds of black spikes jutting out from its body like thorns. Every inch of the creature's body had been impaled until there wasn't even a discernible shape left behind.

The bipedal monster was just a mashed-up mass of flesh, skin, bones, and organs. There were no eyes, no mouth, no body parts left; just a pile of what a human body was made of. Underneath its broken body, the ground was smeared with fresh blood that kept seeping out of the creature's twitching form. The air smelled overwhelmingly like rusted metal, and the creature's gurgles and haunting moans sounded like thunder on a barren wasteland.

Every agonized gurgle was followed by a pulsing, wriggling mass of flesh that rapidly grew and shrunk. It took Izuku way too long, but his analytical mind finally understood why; the monster was futilely trying to heal itself.

The black spikes grew longer the more it struggled, and Izuku could feel his magic starting to boil under his skin. It felt as if his flesh was bathed in acid, and as he clutched a shaking arm around his heart, he felt blood pour out of his eyes and mouth. There was no time for horror. No time for shock. No energy to even react or flinch away when the young villain, in the black hoodie and a medical face mask, screamed and lunged towards the dying creature.

"GET UP! GET UP! KILL THEM!-" The young boy scrambled through the blood until even his black hoodie was stained a deep, dark red. His footsteps were sickeningly loud whenever he stepped on a blob of mangled entrails, but he didn't seem to notice. The villain's red eyes were wide with panicked mania and Izuku knew that, in that moment, the villain wasn't there anymore, instead, he was trapped somewhere in his past.

Izuku watched in detached wariness as the villain madly scrambled up the creature's body, giggling and screaming in turn.

The ball of anxious fear wreaking havoc in under his stomach lit up like a firework until Izuku could barely feel the pain of the dark magic he was using under his skin. It was soon apparent why his instincts were shrieking at him with abandon; because when the villain placed a pale, bloody hand on one of the black spikes and it immediately turned into dust, Izuku felt his magic recoil and _**snap**_.

There was a moment of silence and numbness, but that didn't last long. The adrenaline faded, and Izuku instantly felt his magic rear back in agony. It felt as if his magic had been violently disconnected from his body. It felt like he had just lost a limb, and Izuku couldn't help the loud, gasping wail that fell from his lips.

As more of the spikes disintegrated, acid crawled up his nerves with the force of a tsunami, and soon Izuku's vision were blurry from over-burnt nerves and freshly leaking blood. It took Izuku too long to realize that he wasn't dead. The agony that lit up every nerve in his body was brutal. When Izuku regained consciousness, he found himself braced on the asphalt, heaving out blood and undigested food with Kacchan's arms around his shoulders.

"Deku! Fuck!-"

Blindly, Izuku threw himself at Kacchan and haphazardly burrowed into his friend's chest. Everything in Izuku was shaking with desperation. In his chest -under his heart- his magic was a cold, shaking ball of shock and excruciating pain, and Izuku couldn't even move without feeling like there was lightning electrocuting his nerves. Izuku's palms spasmed and flailed against Kacchan's chest, but with sheer force of will, he managed to grab onto his friend's shoulder and tuck his tears against Kacchan's neck. He knew his voice was barely audible...barely understandable.

He knew he was switching between The Speech and Japanese with the clumsy finesse of a toddler but, somehow, Kacchan seemed to understand his desperation.

"Ka- K͖̹̟a̱͖̭̱̦̠̬͟c͖̹͈̫͈̼c̜̖̼̞͔̥han̙̲̖͙̣̗.͍ i̠̯̪͟t͓̟̞'̼̝̥͜ş̪ ̭͈͓͖̳̳w̠̙̤r̡̥̲͍͔͓ong! ͓̥n̟͇o̻̖͈̙̩t st̢a̝̣͕͇͇͚b̦͓͖͘l̢̤e _-_ ru̪̫̖͖̠n! Kacchan!"

He didn't even finish his sentence before Kacchan scooped him up and stumbled backwards, but they only managed to slip to the back of the crowd when a long drawn-out groan from the writhing creature split the air. Between one blink and the next, the creature swelled up; All the blood and entrails that belonged to the creature hurtled through the air and shot back towards it at breakneck speeds. The sight was uncannily disgusting, and Izuku felt his stomach give another threatening roll. The dread in his veins danced along with his heartbeat, but, even foresight couldn't prepare him for what happened next.

Because, a millisecond later, the creature's body inflated like a balloon whilst all the blood in the air pierced into the mangled, glued-together mass of entrails and body parts with the force of a million bullets. The creature exploded in a tormented, goosebump-inducing screech, and the force of the backlash was so strong that it created a shockwave of wind that flattened the buildings surrounding the group and flung everyone in the vicinity up into the air.

There was a heart-stopping moment when they were suspended in mid-air. Izuku desperately dug into his core and tried to wrench his sluggish, twitching limbs and feverishly aching magic to _do something_.

 _Anything -_

-suddenly, there was a loud bang. Their descent wasn't as fast and wasn't as dizzying as before, and it was rugged and rough, but Kacchan's eyes were alight with adrenaline-fueled determination as he hastily propelled them towards the tallest tree. Izuku felt another arm brace his head before they tumbled into the tree's branches. Izuku knew they were about to hit the ground because Kacchan's body tensed up before he suddenly tucked them into a tight ball and they hit the ground in a jarring roll.

Kacchan didn't waste any time to catch his breath because a slightly shaky arm snaked underneath Izuku's knees and hauled him into a bridal carry. Izuku didn't understand why his friend's heartbeat was jackrabbit fast underneath his palms until he saw large feathers carrying traumatized civilians in the air, and Endeavour's irate, stormy form standing on the edge of the nuclear-sized sinkhole that Izuku's magic backlash created.

There was no sight of the villain, just a black-purple swirling mist suspended in the middle of the sinkhole. Izuku's eyes widened when he realized that the mist wasn't just a portal. Wasn't just a quirk. It was a person, and when two yellow-slitted eyes met Izuku's glowing green eyes, he felt a frisson of his aching magic zing across his sight. For a disorienting moment, Izuku found himself standing inside a large dome where a strange, convoluted amusement park stretched out before him, and where an astronaut and a semi-mummified man stood protectively in front of him. The vision wavered and collapsed just as fast as it appeared. His magic gave a small twitch before it went silent in exhaustion.

Izuku's body responded in kind: his vision tilted and he momentarily blacked out, but he was jerked back into consciousness with a sharp shake. Izuku moaned pitifully into Kacchan's collarbone but, nevertheless, Izuku forced his mind to cling to consciousness with the ferocity of a dying man.

Through the fog of blood trailing down his cheeks and mouth, Izuku hazily heard his blonde friend swear with the same filthiness and passion of a sailor before a forehead was pressed against his hair.

"What- what the hell do I do, Deku?! Damnit, you're bleeding-"

Kacchan flinched back when a sharp, loud shout, followed by a sweltering stream of orange flames, shot towards the mist villain. The flames couldn't even reach a third of the way across the sinkhole before it sputtered out and died. The mist villain didn't stick around for long and disappeared into thin air as soon as Endeavour's flames shot towards him.

There was a beat of shocked silence from the number two hero before the flames surrounding him fanned out in a flash of rage.

Izuku didn't know what Kacchan saw on Endeavour's face. Maybe it was the hungry rage and possessiveness of a demon. Maybe it was the cold, freezing anger of a Yuki-Onna. Izuku didn't know, but they were instantly booking it out of there as if Satan was on their heel. They reached the safe shadows of an alleyway just in time to hear a loud, booming voice laced with a sliver of repressed anger, demand: "Whoever used such a powerful quirk, show yourself! Playing wannabe hero isn't something a civilian should do!"

Endeavour's words clung to his mind like a parasite and, suddenly, Izuku found himself fighting off another bout of nausea. The only thing that stopped him was the glint of trembling fear in Kacchan's crimson eyes.

"Don't you dare pass out on me, dumbass!"

Kacchan took another turn that plunged them deeper into the city and away from the disaster zone. A few minutes passed before Izuku blearily felt Kacchan slow down and stumble to a sudden stop. There was a moment of confusion when the sight of a dead end sunk in. The confusion swiftly turned into disbelief when he realized what his friend was preparing to do.

"Wha- Wait! Kacch-" Izuku's hoarse whisper faded off into a grunt when they went flying into the air with another bang. They landed on a backyard wall with a heavy thump, and the arm around Izuku's knees gently lowered him down.

"Deku, hold on tight. I'm going to get us to a place to rest and hide. The damn streets are crawling with too many shitheads."

Kacchan tugged him closer, wound a tight, protective arm around Izuku's waist, and pointed his -slightly burnt- right hand towards the ground. Instinctively, Izuku pushed himself up onto his tiptoes, curled his arms around Kacchan's neck, and hung on. With one last warning squeeze around Izuku's waist, his friend let out a small explosive burst that ejected them up past two floors and towards a metallic railing of the tallest balcony of the small japanese home.

Izuku squeezed his eyes shut and braced for a painful impact against the building's outer wall, but it wasn't necessary because Kacchan reacted with the speed of a master ninja. The blonde grabbed the railing with his right hand, absorbed their landing against the wall with the balls of his feet, while simultaneously letting off another explosion from the soles of his feet, and used the momentum from the explosion to pull them up and over the railing.

They vaulted over the balcony railing with ease. Landed with a slight wobble before bracing themselves against the balcony walls. For Izuku, there was only a millisecond of relief before an aching pang of dread set in.

Without hesitation, Kacchan swiftly twisted his body around, widened his stance, and ran at the railing. They bulleted across the divide. This time Kacchan pushed off the ground with one feet and leapt at the metal railing with a slow, challenging smirk. As they cleared the railing, Kacchan slammed the ball of his outstretched foot against the railing and they launched off with a huge, concussive explosion that sent tremors through Izuku's bones.

To the left, there was a five storey apartment complex that looked large enough for them to lay low for a while. As soon as Kacchan's feet touched the grass of the open-air garden on the fifth floor, they crumpled onto the cool stone pathways and grass in sheer exhaustion. They laid on the sun-soaked grass for a few blissful seconds, just marinating in the lingering vestiges of overwhelming relief, adrenaline and fear.

Izuku closed his eyes for a few seconds, but he must have dozed off because when he blinked them open again, there was a folded up sweater under his head and bloody gauze strips in front of Kacchan. There was a few long seconds of tense, sombre silence as Kacchan clumsily wound white strips of gauze around his burnt palms and feet, but when his friend noticed that he was awake, Kacchan scooted closer and shoved a water bottle at him.

"I cleaned away all the damn blood on you, so drink the damn water and rest."

His friend threw a thumb towards the early afternoon sun and blue sky, and said, "I went down and checked it out. Still way too many shitheads down there for my comfort."

A yellow, ratty backpack was deposited with a loud _plop_ in front of his face.

Kacchan gave Izuku a _what-a-nerd_ look but it was tempered by a fondness that Izuku didn't expect to see from a tired, overwhelmed, and irritated Kacchan.

"Thank fuck you're such a nerd, Deku. There were damn medical supplies in here. I don't know what the hell you were prepared for -the fucking Apocalypse?- but they were definitely more useful than all that stupid, shitty quirk analysis notebooks you carry around."

The blonde must have seen the lines of fatigue on his face because Kacchan unscrewed the bottle, helped him sit up, and gently tipped the rim to his lips. He couldn't wait. He just drank as greedily as he could. Scared that the cool balm against the bleeding insides of his mouth (and throat) was going to be taken away.

"Woah! Slow down, dumbass."

The water blanketed the tender pain in his mouth and throat like ice on a burn, and Izuku only stopped when he accidentally drank too fast. His thoughts were sluggish like molasses, but the momentary relief from the burning pain brought tears to his eyes. The bottle was gently lifted away from his lips by gauze-taped fingers.

With adrenaline-fueled reflexes, Izuku caught Kacchan's wrist and squeezed it insistently. He gestured towards his throat with the other hand and opened his mouth. There was a look of pure disgust on Kacchan's face before the blonde angrily tsked, cupped Izuku's chin, and tugged his head closer.

"What type of fucked up magic did you use, Deku? Your whole mouth is filled with cuts- Wait- Looks like it goes all the way down your throat."

There was no hint of anger left in Kacchan's voice, just bewilderment. "That's why you were coughing up a shit ton of blood? I don't think we can do anything about it except go to the hospital-"

Kacchan's words faded into the background. The only thing Izuku could see behind his eyelids was the sight of hundreds and hundreds of cuts and holes in the creature's body. The same cuts that littered the insides of his mouth and throat. Izuku wrapped shaky fingers around his neck but the feeling of soft, unblemished skin underneath his palms contradicted the raw, agonizing feeling of fire that coated the insides of his throat, and Izuku gagged.

The feeling of horror grew when flashes of red entered his mind like oil on water. Flashes of blood and gory remains assaulted his senses until the only thing he remembered was the colour of red against grey. The colour of blood. The colour of his destruction.

"Oh god- Kacch-Kacchan! I - _I'm a_ _ **monster**_."

Hiccuping sobs fell out of Izuku's lips like a prayer. The breathy, pleading words were ripped from the depth of his soul with the force of a tortuous wail.

There was nothing but pure self-loathing, disgust and disappointment at himself. His magic was gifted to him by the Earth. It was a precious, soft, healing warmth that stayed with him through thick and thin. It was his badge of honour to a World that was different. To a richer, more diverse World.

But now, his magic was achy and cold. It felt old and alien in his chest, and it was the first time he ever felt scared of his magic. Scared of the depth of his magic's potential; because it wasn't coated with the spring-time warmth and gentleness of innocence anymore, instead, it was now a reactive, sharp, coiling, slumbering beast in his chest.

When the wrongness under Izuku's skin didn't leave he ran hard, irritated hands down his own arms, dug his fingers into his flesh and hoped that he could scrape the emotion out of his skin.

"Oi! Hey! Stop that! Fuckin-," a litany of curses abrupted next to him before a strong hand reached across Izuku's shoulders and pushed his head between his knees.

"Breathe, Deku! Damnit! God, you're such a overthinker, you shitty nerd-,"

A sweaty, slightly warm hand settled into Izuku's green strands like they belonged there, and he basked in Kacchan's tempered gentleness with a wet hiccup.

"You ain't a fucking monster. You're the most sickening pile of sunny smiles, positivity and airheadedness ever. It's fucking gross."

Kacchan's words were spat out like the words had metaphysically offended his blonde hair.

There was a beat of silence that was long and bordering on uncomfortable before Kacchan said: "It's the useless heroes on scene. If there was _one_ competent hero then fucking 'civilians' wouldn't need to fight. Shitheads like Endeavour- yeah, fuck 'em,"

Izuku felt Kacchan press a sharp, feral grin into his green locks.

"I'm going to be the fucking best hero one day, so no one needs to worry about shitheads like those villains. So no one needs to fight like you did today-,"

A vicious, yet gentle whisper wafted against Izuku's ear like a promise. _**An oath**_.

"I'm going to be the most powerful fucking ' _monster'_ ever. Just wait and see, Deku. Your magic isn't going to be invincible forever." A taped thumb trailed up Izuku's throat until it reached the dip on top of his Adam's apple, and gently pressed down. Kacchan's eyes were like smouldering pits of orange-red fire, and the voices in his head that condemned him, stopped in the face of Kacchan's conviction.

"Yeah, your magic might be dangerous. That's fucking ok. We're both too powerful and deadly to most people. Too fucking young for this amount of power. But at least, we'll be the best damn monsters together."

Izuku didn't know why that was so comforting. Why the thought of his magic being so dangerous didn't scare him as much as anymore. Maybe it was the same deadliness and feral power reflected in Kacchan's eyes. Maybe it was the permission his magic needed to anchor itself to a person. Maybe it was the thought of not walking this lonely road alone. Or maybe...it was all of it combined.

Izuku didn't know what it was, but he clung on to Kacchan like a limpet and breathed in Kacchan's scent like a single-minded bloodhound. Izuku burrowed himself in his friend's scent and trusted that Kacchan's presence would anchor and settle his magic, and it did.

It made him feel less wrong. Less detached. He wasn't alone in this and that thought chased away the constant, deep-seated fear he had for his magic.

It was a while before they managed to untangle from each other, but when the sky turned a dusky pink and orange shade Kacchan got up and packed all the stuff back into the yellow (All-Might limited edition) backpack.

Then, Kacchan stood up, turned around and waited. Izuku obediently climbed on his friend's broad back and smothered his wobbly smile against spiky, blonde hair. Izuku saw Kacchan glance at him before his friend scoffed and adjusted the yellow backpack slung across his front.

"And it's good that you're not fucking weak. If you were weak, I'd probably attack your stupid ass until it made you strong. Your magic fucking got rid of that creature. It was dangerous and bloody but, next time, you can learn to control it better. So shut up, we're getting outta here. My old hag can get your throat checked out and get you some antibiotics."

There was a painful ache in Izuku's chest but it was soothed by Kacchan's loyalty and comfort. It should have torn him up more. It should have made him feel more guilty, but instead there was slight undercurrent of satisfaction buried under Izuku's magic. The type of satisfaction that comes after a job well done.

His magic felt as if it righted a wrong in the world. Felt as if it was made to do this. Made to sooth the imbalance of magic. Made to be a weapon to protect. Made to be used. Wielded.

For a split second, Endeavour's voice and All Might's all-encompassing smile flitted across Izuku's mind, followed by the word 'hero' and the sea of brave and courageous faces of his fellow civilians today. If being a hero meant saving just one person even if you didn't have the power to do it…well, Izuku wouldn't mind being one in the future then.


End file.
